The Hyper-Chicken

The Hyper-Chicken is one of New New York's stranger fixtures: a fast-talking, streetwise poultry tough guy who struts through scenes like he owns the block, dishing out attitude and slang with total confidence. He's rarely central to the plot, but wherever he shows up, he's already mid-hustle, mid-boast, or mid-threat.

Maurice LaMarche plays him with the gravelly bravado of a old noir tough, which is the whole joke — a chicken with the swagger of a boxing promoter or a street thug, never once acknowledging how absurd that is. The commitment to the bit, rather than any wink at the audience, is what makes him land every time he appears.